


Courting Rituals for Dummies

by Destielshipper4Cas



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Dean, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bottom Castiel, Courting Rituals, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Jealous Dean Winchester, Jealousy, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Omega Castiel, Omega Verse, Roommates, Smut, Top Dean, Topping from the Bottom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:26:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21792961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destielshipper4Cas/pseuds/Destielshipper4Cas
Summary: Cas had been behaving strangely for a few days now, and Dean didn’t like it one bit. He had stopped wearing his favorite trench coat Dean loved to tease him for, had started using some sort of aftershave for omegas that covered his awesome smell, and was actually making an attempt at taming his hair so that it didn’t look like he’d just been fucked by an alpha.(Okay, so, that last one might be a ‘back off’ signal for Dean’s benefit because he liked to groom the omega, and his ridiculously disarrayed hair gave him a good excuse.)First, Dean was confused as to why an amazing omega like Cas thought he had to changeanythingabout himself in the first place.Then he saw him chatting with Benny when their whole group went out for drinks one night, and everything became clear.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 344
Kudos: 1881





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for a prompt, but it veered off course a bit…

Cas had been behaving strangely for a few days now, and Dean didn’t like it one bit. He had stopped wearing his favorite trench coat Dean loved to tease him for, had started using some sort of aftershave for omegas that covered his awesome smell, and was actually making an attempt at taming his hair so that it didn’t look like he’d just been fucked by an alpha.

(Okay, so, that last one might be a ‘back off’ signal for Dean’s benefit because he liked to groom the omega, and his ridiculously disarrayed hair gave him a good excuse.)

First, Dean was confused as to why an amazing omega like Cas thought he had to change _anything_ about himself in the first place.

Then he saw him chatting with Benny when their whole group went out for drinks one night, and everything became clear.

Cas and Benny were just getting drinks at the bar while he was waiting in the booth with Sam, Eileen and Charlie when Cas leaned way into Benny’s personal space, whispering into his ear, and then blushing and smiling when the alpha said something back.

Dean clenched his teeth. Obviously, Cas was changing for Benny.

Sure, Cas was a dork, but he was _his_ dork, dammit! The fact that Benny made him act like some sort of idiot did not sit well with him. Especially since he liked Cas the way he was just fine. He sure wasn’t a big fan of Cas’ new method of trying to appear attractive to some alpha who didn’t even deserve him.

“Dean?” Sam asked, startling him out of his thoughts.

“What?” Dean barked, maybe a bit too harshly.

“I just asked if you were doing okay, but if you’re just going to bite my head off, see if I care.”

“Whatever.” Dean was trying to read Benny’s lips to find out what kind of lame pick-up line he was using on Cas.

When he couldn’t figure out if the alpha was saying ‘Nice weather out there,’ or ‘Let’s boink like rabbits,’ he remembered that he couldn’t read lips. Damn.

⁂

Dean sure was a hard alpha to court. He probably wasn’t even interested in Cas that way. They had been living together for such a long time, long past the age when they should have moved into their own places, and Dean had never once made any advances.

But that’s what courting was for: showing the other person that you were compatible.

Of course, normally, the alpha was the one courting the omega. But Cas had tried to get Dean to do the courting without success. If Dean wasn’t interested in courting him, Cas would have to step up and try to get the alpha to see him in a different light.

He had started off by getting rid of the coat Dean hated. (Well, he didn’t have the heart to really get rid of it, so he just hung it in the back of his closet and that was that.)

Dean had also made fun of his hair on occasion. Sometimes, the alpha would just roll his eyes when they were about to leave the apartment, say, “Your hair’s a mess!” and then proceed to comb his fingers through Cas’ hair to make him look presentable. As if he was embarrassed to be seen with Cas like that.

Cas had even bought a bottle of ‘alluring omega scent,’ which was supposed to drive alphas wild.

Dean hadn’t complimented him on his new scent once.

Having run out of ideas, Cas finally decided to ask an alpha for advice. Luckily, Benny was immediately on board.

“About time that one of you made a move,” the alpha grinned.

Cas felt himself blush (he had known that his crush was way too obvious!), but then he gave Benny a thankful smile and listened to his suggestions.

First one on the list: ‘Compliment his strength.’ Apparently, alphas liked to be useful and help their omega in need. Cas should have figured that one out for himself.

“Dean? Can you help me with this can? I can’t get it open,” he said the next night when he was preparing dinner—another courting idea he’d had: offer Dean food. Of course, they usually ate together, so one of them cooking for the other was nothing out of the ordinary.

For a second there, Cas thought his plan might fail because the can really _was_ hard to open and Dean seemed to be having problems with it as well. But then the alpha succeeded and Cas remembered to say his rehearsed line, “Wow, you’re really strong!”

Dean just rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Shut up.”

Not the reaction Cas had hoped for. Maybe he should move on to the next courting tip: ‘Make him chase you.’

⁂

After Cas had teased him for almost failing to open a can, the evening got even weirder. Once they were done eating, Cas just got up and left. Sure, Cas had been the one cooking, so it was Dean’s turn to do the dishes. But usually, they would end up doing them together anyway. Dean had helped Cas with the dishes last time.

He quickly forgot about it, though, and wrote it off as Cas being his usual weird self.

The following days, however, Cas repeatedly walked off, even when they were in the middle of a conversation, which was weird even by Cas’ standards.

“Are we playing tag or something?” he asked when he found Cas in his room after the omega had just left him sitting on the couch when they had been in the middle of watching a movie.

It had been an ironic remark, but Cas perked up like a pup on Christmas morning, tapped his shoulder, said, “You’re it,” and took off.

Dean blinked after him, dumbfounded. Didn’t Cas know that running away from an alpha was considered foreplay? It awakened the primal instinct in any alpha to give chase and mate the omega.

Just to teach him a lesson, Dean gave in to the instinct—well, at least the giving chase part of it—and went after Cas, chasing him around the apartment until they were both out of breath. Cas wasn’t half bad at evading him, using the furniture as a barrier between them.

Finally, when Dean had chased him to the living room, he dove over the couch and sent them toppling to the ground with an “Oomph,” Dean landing on top of Cas.

Ha! He just got himself an omega. And not just any omega, but _Cas._

His pulse was racing, the adrenaline from the chase still running through his veins. This was the moment the alpha would normally proceed to claim his prize. Maybe duck down to kiss the omega or at least scent-mark him…

Dean resisted the urge and got up. “You don’t run away from alphas unless you want to start something,” he explained so that Cas wouldn’t accidentally get claimed if he pulled this stunt with other alphas.

His own alpha was really disappointed that the chase hadn’t led to anything.

For some reason, Cas smelled a bit disappointed, too. He was probably just miffed that Dean had won and caught him…


	2. Chapter 2

The next time they were about to meet their friends at a diner, Dean made sure to brush against Cas’ scent gland under the guise of fixing his collar.

Okay, maybe scent-marking him was a dick move, but he had been hitting on Cas long before he had even introduced him to Benny. Just because the omega was so oblivious he hadn’t picked up on it, didn’t mean Benny could just swoop in and make his move. He knew damn well that Dean had this… thing for Cas.

And since this wasn’t the old days when an alpha could just challenge another alpha over an omega, scent-marking Cas sounded like the next best plan.

Unfortunately, it didn’t deter Benny, who was sitting across from them, from sneaking glances at Cas. They had some sort of silent communication thing going on where Benny raised his eyebrows at Cas and Cas shook his head slightly.

Communicating with looks alone was supposed to be Dean and Cas’ thing!

Since Dean was busy glaring at Benny, it took him a while to notice that the feet bumping against his legs weren’t doing so by accident. Someone was trying to play footsie with him and Dean so wasn’t in the mood.

He interrupted his death glare directed at Benny and glared at the omega who was sitting between Benny and Charlie instead. Gilda or something. He hadn’t quite paid attention when they had been introduced, but she had been trying to flirt with him from the get go.

Dean discreetly pushed his chair back a bit to signal her that he wasn’t interested in foot-flirting.

“Uhm… she was there with Charlie. You know, as her _date_ ,” Sam said when Dean brought it up on the way home.

Dean was giving Sam and Eileen a ride while Cas had gotten into Benny’s car because their apartment was on Benny’s way home anyway and apparently, Cas had ‘something to discuss with him.’

Yeah, right. Dean knew what that was code for. He gripped the wheel tighter and focused on their conversation instead.

“Why was she hitting on me then?”

“I don’t think she was,” Eileen replied. “She’s into omegas.”

“Not everyone who is nice to you is trying to sleep with you, you know?” Sam said.

Oh. Maybe she had meant to play footsie with Charlie and had mistaken his feet for hers. Then again, he had very manly feet, thank you very much.

Once he had dropped Sam and Eileen off and was alone at home, he tried to distract himself, but he kept glancing at his watch. Benny was supposed to bring Cas straight home. They should be here by now.

⁂

Dean had behaved strangely, and even Benny didn’t have an explanation for his foul mood.

For the most part, Dean had ignored Cas. Instead, he had sent smoldering looks towards Gilda. She was omegasexual, though, so if he had wanted to pick her up, he was out of luck. Not to mention that she was Charlie’s date, and Cas didn’t think that Dean would try to start something with an omega Charlie was interested in.

In any case, Cas’ attempt at flirting had fallen flat. Dean hadn’t been receptive to playing footsie with him.

At least he got some more suggestions on how to court an alpha from Benny.

One of them seemed easy enough to implement: talk about sex so that he sees you as a sexual being. According to Benny, it turned alphas on when omegas mentioned their heats or being knotted or something along those lines.

⁂

When Cas finally came home (it might only have been a few minutes after Dean, but it had felt like an eternity), Dean inconspicuously scented Cas and was relieved when there was no trace of Benny. They hadn’t touched, kissed or more.

The scent mark Dean had put on Cas had faded in the meantime, so Dean suggested they watch an episode of Doctor Sexy. Their couch was a bit worn out and saggy in the middle and usually whenever they were watching a movie together, they’d end up drifting towards each other until they were snuggled together in the middle. And that meant his scent would be all over Cas again by the end of the night.

That, at least, had been the plan until Cas sat down on the far end of the couch. Before Dean could feel disappointed that his plan had been thwarted, the omega put his feet up on the couch and right in Dean’s lap.

He didn’t even say anything—as if they were doing this all the time. Dean picked his jaw off the ground and said, “Uhm… what are you doing?”

“Gettin’ comfortable,” Cas promptly replied and left his feet with his ridiculous bee-covered socks right where they were.

Was this omega kidding him?! Getting all domestic on him. This was a scene right out of Dean’s daydreams.

Mere hours earlier, he’d been flirting with Benny and even preferred to let him drive him home over going home with Dean as usual. Now here he was, ignoring Dean’s personal space, not even realizing the effect he was having on Dean and his alpha, who both wanted to pull Cas towards him and thoroughly scent-mark him.

He only realized that he had been staring at Cas when the omega said, looking straight ahead at the screen, “Dean, the episode has started.”

Dean quickly shook his head and took a deep gulp of his beer before he tried to focus on what was happening on screen. It was nigh impossible, though, because he was constantly distracted by Cas shifting or wiggling his toes. (Who even wiggled his toes?! Was that even a thing omegas did?)

He started playing a drinking game with himself where he would take a sip of his beer whenever Cas did something that made him lose his composure, but when he realized his bottle of beer wouldn’t last long at this rate, he gave up on it. Instead, he found himself massaging Cas’ feet to keep him from wriggling around.

He had a short moment when he wondered if this was maybe a bit weird. But then he dismissed it. Just a foot massage between friends. Cas sure didn’t think there was anything weird about it if his content sighs were anything to go by.

After a while, he let go of Cas’ feet so that he could finish his beer. When he tried to focus on the episode again, there was some song playing and a montage of sorts, but Dean had no idea what was going on. _Oh!_ That was the _end_ of the episode!

Cas turned the TV off and then said, out of nowhere, “It’s been a long time since someone knotted me.”

Dean choked, spraying the rest of his beer all over himself.

Cas wanted sex advice for sleeping with Benny? Count Dean out!

“I’m sure it’s like riding a bike,” he said once he was capable of talking again, hoping that his short remark was enough to tell Cas that he didn’t want to discuss it further.

“Well, not really. _I’m_ the one being ridden.”

Aaand thank you very much for that boner-inducing image! For safety reasons Dean put his bottle down and then repositioned a bit, making sure that Cas’ feet weren’t near his crotch area.

Dean hummed noncommittally. “Another one?” he then asked, nodding towards the TV.

“I mean, it’s not just being knotted,” Cas went on, completely ignoring Dean’s suggestion. “But even taking a penis…”

O-okay! Time to shut the omega up who didn’t have a clue about socially acceptable conversation topics.

“Look, Cas, I really don’t think we should be talking about this.”

Cas squinted at him. “Why?”

“Because…” Dean started. “I’m an alpha… You’re an omega…”

His poor, innocent Cas didn’t know that talking about being knotted was considered a come on. Alphas generally saw that as an invitation to start flirting… or more.

“Yes, Dean. I know that you’re an alpha and I’m an omega. I fail to see how that is of relevance.”

“Just… it’s weird,” Dean finally settled on saying.

Cas sighed and then got up off the couch. Suddenly, Dean missed his cute, warm feet.

“Hey! What happened to watching the next episode?” Dean asked.

Cas just shrugged in reply and went to his room. Dean couldn’t help thinking that he might have said the wrong thing. As his best friend, he totally should have made him feel better about getting intimate with Benny. As an alpha crushing on said best friend, there was no way he could have found the right words to encourage him to go have sex with someone else, though.


	3. Chapter 3

Some further research revealed that alphas who were trying to court someone liked giving omegas belly rubs. Apparently, they were into it because seeing the omega they intended to woo lying on his back all vulnerable and defenseless awakened some kind of primal alpha instinct in them.

Well then. Courting would be so easy if only Cas was an alpha. All he’d have to do is give Dean a belly rub to see if he was receptive to his advances.

Now, since he was the omega, things were a bit more complicated, since he needed to trick Dean into giving _him_ a belly rub.

The only courting technique that had somehow worked so far was having Dean chase him, so maybe he could work with that.

 _You don’t run away from alphas unless you want to start something_ , Dean had said. What better way to show Dean that he, in fact, did want to start something than by making him chase him again?

The perfect opportunity presented itself when they came home from a visit at Sam’s. As soon as Dean had killed the engine, Cas yelled, “Race you!” before he jumped out of the car and took off.

He lost his head start when he had to open the door, but he still made it into his room before the alpha barreled into him. They landed on his bed and Cas twisted around under Dean so that he was lying on his back, in perfect belly rub position.

As soon as Cas had started moving around, Dean had let go of him so that he was now sitting on the bed next to Cas.

Since Dean was just looking down at him, still trying to figure out what had just happened, Cas presented his belly for rubbing and waited.

Come on, alpha instincts, kick in! There’s an omega lying here in front of you belly-up. What are you going to do about it?

Dean’s eyes wandered down to Cas’ belly, and—yes, that’s it, you know you want to rub it!

The alpha carefully put a hand on Cas’ stomach, his eyes fixed on what he was doing, before looking up at Cas’ face and back at the hand on his stomach. Cas squirmed around some under the hand, trying to get it to move.

Finally, Dean started stroking back and forth over Cas’ shirt.

Cas purred in encouragement. He had been so focused on Dean and his alpha’s instincts that he had totally forgotten that omega instincts were a thing, too. His omega loved the attention Dean gave his belly. He _wanted_ to submit and present himself as defenseless for his alpha to do with as he pleased.

Dean’s other hand had joined his efforts and now two hands were busy getting intimate with Cas’ belly so that Cas had no other choice but to let the alpha do what apparently came naturally.

All the rubbing and stroking had made his shirt ride up and the next thing he knew, he felt Dean’s strong hands on his naked skin, fondling him in the best way possible.

Cas was content to just lie there, feel good, and show Dean how much he trusted him, but suddenly, an all too familiar stirring in the pit of his stomach interrupted his bliss.

Great! Why did he have to go into heat right now when he was finally getting somewhere, awakening all the right instincts in Dean, making him finally see Cas as more than his nerdy best friend.

Luckily, he still had some time left before the heat symptoms would become obvious. He would so spend the time enjoying the closeness with Dean, who still had his hands all over him.

Dean’s nose twitched—he might have picked up on the scent of pre-heat—and the strokes became slower until they stopped altogether. Dean didn’t retreat, though, just stared down at Cas, who stared right back up at him, trying to look enticing. One of Dean’s hands was still on Cas’ stomach, just lying there now, a soft weight grounding him.

How did an omega awaken an alpha’s instinct to kiss him or maybe hold and protect him? Oh, that’s right.

Cas felt his heart beat frantically in his chest as he reached up and, under the guise of grooming him, brushed against Dean’s scent gland, leaving a small scent mark.

This was it. There was no way Dean wouldn’t understand the meaning of that gesture.

The alpha continued looking down at him for a moment and then—he groomed him right back, scratching behind his ears and then moving on to gently knead his neck.

Cas’ omega rejoiced. That was the first sign Dean had given him that he might be okay with Cas’ attempts at courting him.

Emboldened by Dean’s reaction, Cas bared his neck, trying to tempt Dean’s alpha into nuzzling it and asserting his rightful claim over him.

The submissive gesture did the trick. Dean ducked down, covering Cas’ body with his own in the process, and began licking at his scent gland. His hand traveled back down and began massaging Cas’ belly while his tongue was busy marking Cas as Dean’s.

Finally, Dean was on board! He clearly wanted his omega if the way his hand was drifting lower was anything to go by.

“Dean!” Cas whimpered. He couldn’t wait for Dean to finally take him to bed, so he decided to tell the alpha that, “Want you!”

And then, suddenly, Dean stopped. No more fondling his belly, no more licking his neck. In fact, the alpha was out of the bed and two feet away, looking spooked and mumbling, “You’re in heat!”

The next second, he had left Cas’ room, the door closed behind him.

All the elation Cas had felt only moment earlier was gone in an instant. Was that the only reason Dean had reacted to his advances? A little bit of pre-heat scent? Had Cas used illicit methods—his approaching heat—to try and seduce Dean against his will?

No wonder Dean had hightailed it out of here. After all, he had made it clear again and again that he didn’t appreciate Cas’ courting attempts. Cas just hadn’t wanted to see it.

On top of feeling the world crumble down around him, Cas was now embarrassed as well. He should not have tried to use Dean’s alpha instincts against him. It wasn’t Dean’s fault that he was an alpha and reacted to certain stimuli like an omega running away from him or showing him his belly.

Cas just hoped that Dean wasn’t too mad at him. He’d stop his stupid scheme to try and court the alpha, but he couldn’t bear the thought of losing his best friend over his naïve idea that there could ever be more between them.

Great! Now feelings of rejection were making him want to sob into his pillow. Damn heat hormones making him all emotional!

⁂

Dean couldn’t believe that he had almost taken advantage of his best friend in heat! He had promised himself to never be that alpha. And look at him now! He had touched him inappropriately, licked and scent-marked him, and he had gotten real close to taking his heat—which was really just a fancy word for raping him.

Cas would be disgusted once his brain wasn’t clouded by heat hormones anymore. Dean just hoped he would accept his apology and forgive him.

No wonder the omega had been all pent-up and trying to get Dean to chase him. His omega instincts were going crazy right now, and since Benny wasn’t around and apparently hadn’t satisfied his sexual needs yet, Dean was the next best alpha available.

Still, Cas had clearly craved the presence of an alpha, so Dean decided to stop being a dick about it, and texted Benny, ‘cas is in heat.’

‘Good for him?’ came the reply almost instantly. And then a moment later, ‘R u asking for advice?’

Advice? Dean frowned at the message. He really wasn’t in the mood for Benny’s sense of humor. He threw the phone on his desk and himself on his bed to sulk some more.


	4. Chapter 4

Unfortunately, Dean didn’t get the opportunity to wallow in peace. When he didn’t text back, Benny had the nerve to actually call him.

Dean had half a mind to let it go to voicemail, but he kind of owed Cas one for almost molesting him, so he answered with a short, “What?”

“What’s up, brother?” Benny asked.

“What part of ‘Cas is in heat’ did you not understand?”

“The part where you’re texting me instead of getting it on with him. I assume you finally got your head out of your ass?”

“What?” What kind of a strange, open relationship did they have if Benny wanted Dean to ‘get it on’ with Cas while the omega was in heat?!

“Or not.” Benny sighed. “Look—Cas deserves better.” Dean couldn’t agree more. “If you’re too chicken to take a chance on him, then tell him. At least react in some way to his courting attempts.”

“Courting…?” Dean squeaked.

There was a pause. Then Benny said, “Don’t tell me you haven’t figured that one out yet?”

Dean’s mind was racing, trying to make sense of this new piece of information. Cas running away from him. Cas putting his feet into his lap and talking about being knotted. Cas showing him his belly.

Still, his mind was stuck on one fact. “Omegas don’t court alphas,” he said, dumbfounded. “Alphas court omegas.”

“Unless the alpha doesn’t get off his ass,” Benny replied.

Cas had tried to _court_ him. And the way Dean had reacted, he had to think his courting attempts had not been well received.

“Gotta go,” Dean quickly said, his mind already busy coming up with ideas of how to make up for his dismissive behavior these last few days. “Got an omega to court.”

He hung up on Benny’s, “About damn ti—”

⁂

There was no way that Dean would start off their relationship by sticking his dick up Cas’ ass and fucking him through his heat. After all, Cas had tried to court him. The least Dean could do was do this the right way and ‘get off his ass,’ as Benny had phrased it, to do some courting of his own.

Step 1 was easy enough. Since Cas was in heat and Dean didn’t want to just unceremoniously fuck and knot him, he could at least give him an article of his clothing to scent while in heat.

He left a care package in front of Cas’ door with his favorite shirt (the one he’d incidentally just been wearing), a bottle of water, some ice, a washcloth, and some snacks he knew Cas liked.

After he had gone back to his own room, he suddenly felt a bit nervous, even though if what Benny said was true, Cas was definitely interested in him that way. He had left Cas plenty of heat care packages before, but never one that so blatantly said, ‘Think of me while you’re riding your fake knot.’

The next time he happened to walk by Cas’ room, the care package was gone. Including Dean’s shirt. Dean had half feared that after the way they had left things earlier, Cas might refuse that particular item.

Well, he hadn’t, so Dean counted that as a win.

Once Cas’ heat was over, the shirt wasn’t mentioned again. It just appeared in the pile of Dean’s fresh laundry.

Dean had had a few days to think about his next step and he had decided that the most important thing was to tell Cas that he didn’t need to change. Not only was he good enough the way he was, but he was appreciated and loved for it.

“Whatever happened to your trench coat?” he asked during breakfast. “Haven’t seen you wear it in a while.”

Cas shrugged his shoulders a bit awkwardly. “It looks dorky,” he mumbled.

Dean might have mentioned that once or twice. But in his defense, he had just tried teasing Cas a bit to see if he was open to some low-level flirting.

“You know that ‘dorky’ is my code word for ‘adorable,’ right?” Dean cleared that misunderstanding right up.

The tips of Cas’ ears turned red and he lowered his eyes. Score!

Making an omega blush was definitely a sign that the alpha was doing a good job courting him.

Next step: Making his intentions clear. Well, he might have successfully done that when he had offered Cas his shirt to scent, but the way they had managed to misinterpret each other’s intentions before, Dean really had to make sure he got this right.

That’s why he made sure his room was set up just right: candles setting the mood, soft music playing quietly in the background and comfy looking blankets on his bed.

Next, he lured Cas in there under the pretense of movie night.

Upon entering Cas seemed completely caught off guard. He had stopped just one step inside the room and was staring at the candles and the bed.

“Dean?” Cas asked, his voice uncertain.

Suppressing a smile, Dean pretended like nothing was out of the ordinary. “Just sit down, I’ll get the movie started,” he said and then went on to pretend that he was doing just that.

Cas was hesitantly moving over to the bed and sitting down, his eyes still wandering around the room and taking in the romantic atmosphere.

“What…?” he started to ask again, but Dean had followed him onto the bed and was now reaching out and carefully put his hand on Cas’ belly, all the while searching his face for any indication that he might not be okay with this.

But Cas’ omega knew what was coming and let himself sink into the pillows, giving Dean access to play with his belly.

No one was about to go into heat or rut. It was just them, letting instincts take over, letting their alpha and omega play with each other a little to find out if they were compatible. (They _so_ were compatible!)

Dean began the belly rub by gently stroking over Cas’ stomach. Remembering how good Cas’ soft skin had felt, he lifted the shirt up a bit and looked back at Cas for permission. The omega quickly helped pulling up the shirt further, so that Dean could continue giving his belly a massage.

Dean caressed every inch he could reach lovingly, interspersed with soft tickles that made Cas squirm and purr.

After a while, Dean stilled his hand, just let it rest on Cas’ stomach, looked him deep into the eyes, and asked, “May I court you?”


	5. Chapter 5

Cas was smiling at him brightly. “Really?” he asked, hopeful and shy and so _Cas_ that Dean couldn’t help but smile back dopily, even though what he really wanted to do was kiss that omega.

“If you haven’t figured out that that’s what I’m trying to do here—” He gave Cas’ tummy a quick rub to underline his words. “—then I clearly haven’t been doing my job right.”

“No, I mean, yes, I did think that maybe… I just… you weren’t all that receptive when _I_ tried…” Cas said, stumbling over his words.

“Yeah, well. I might have misunderstood your intentions,” Dean admitted.

“How could you possibly misunderstand me trying to play footsie with you…”

“That was _you_?!”

“…or showing you my belly?”

“You were in heat!” Dean defended himself. “I was just trying to be a gentleman. Anyway—is that a yes to the courting?”

Cas’ smile turned fond. “Of course, you dorky alpha.”

Dorky? “I’m not dorky,” Dean said.

“It’s code for adorable,” Cas reminded him and then pulled him down on top of him for a chaste kiss.

It was just a quick, closed-mouth kiss, but Dean still felt his stomach jump and his heart flutter because this was _Cas_.

“Hey! I’m the one who’s supposed to kiss _you_ ,” he remembered when his brain was done processing the fact that he and Cas had just _kissed_. Man, he had to be great at this courting thing if he had already gotten Cas to kiss him.

Cas looked up at him innocently. “I just thought if I’d wait around for you, I’d probably have to wait for quite a long time.”

Dean tickled Cas in retaliation. Cheeky little omega!

Squealing and wriggling around, Cas finally swatted Dean’s hand away from his stomach. They stared into each other’s eyes until Dean saw Cas’ eyes flit down to his lips.

“You may commence the courting now,” Cas informed him.

“Oh, is that right?” Dean teased, unable to hold back a grin. He’d court him alright. He’d court the crap out of this cute little omega.

Cas nodded, biting his own lip and giving him clear signals that he was ready to be kissed.

But Dean wasn’t here to bed him. He had some courting to do. He quickly ducked down to peck Cas on the cheek and then sat up, ignoring the confused look Cas shot him.

“Grab your coat. We’re going for a stroll,” Dean told him. Then he rethought his instructions and added, “Or if you want to make this easy for me, don’t grab your coat. Gives me a chance to offer you my jacket and score some courting points.”

Cas rolled his eyes, but he didn’t quite manage to hide his grin. “You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, but a really chivalrous one.”

⁂

Being the one courted for once felt nice.

Dean took him out on dates—to his favorite diner, to an escape room, geocaching, ice-skating… It really wasn’t all that different from what they were usually doing, only now, there was hand holding involved and stolen glances, and even though they both knew that the courting would lead to more—at least to them getting intimate—they were longing for each other.

It was the good kind of longing, though. Longing in anticipation of something wonderful. When they were touching, it was deliberate and intended to amp up the anticipation.

When Dean was kissing him goodnight after a date night, Cas’ omega was going crazy. He wanted to jump Dean and have the strong alpha hold him down and reap the fruits of a successful courting.

Dean was sweet and certainly went all out trying to do the courting right. But Cas was slowly going insane with lust.

“Dean? My omega is ready,” he said one such time when they were standing in front of Cas’ room, and Dean was about to break the kiss to go back to his own room. Truth was, Cas’ omega had been ready for years, but there was no sense in admitting that.

“Ready for what?” Dean asked, not really paying attention as he dove back in to kiss Cas some more.

Cas put a hand on his chest to push him back a bit so that he could finish his thought. “You have done a really good job at courting me,” he started and Dean puffed out his chest at that compliment. “But now it’s time to follow through. If you want to, that is.”

“Follow…” Dean frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

Time to speak in terms that even the most oblivious alpha couldn’t misunderstand. “You’re making me horny.”

“Oh.” Dean’s stunned expression turned predatory in the blink of an eye. “So, my seduction technique has worked, huh?”

Cas rolled his eyes. As if Dean had had to work at ‘seducing’ him. Cas had already been gone on him long before the alpha had tried any ‘seduction technique’ on him.

“Yes, Dean, your seduction technique has left me swooning.”

“I know that you’re just being cute right now, but I totally got your omega to crave my alpha’s dick, so I’m still counting that as a win.”

“Keep talking and my omega won’t be interested in your alpha’s dick any longer,” Cas teased him back because teasing Dean was always fun.

“Oh, in that case, I better act fast.” The next second, he had hoisted Cas up in his arms, clasping his butt cheeks, and Cas instinctively wrapped his legs around the alpha’s waist.

Finally! Cas had been waiting for Dean to jump him ever since the alpha had asked if he could court him.

Dean carried him into his room and deposited him onto the bed before crawling after him. Cas couldn’t wait for Dean’s alpha and his omega to unite.

⁂

Dean had been waiting for a sign from Cas that he was ready to take the next step. And now here he was, lying on the bed underneath Dean, ready to be taken.

Kissing his way from Cas’ lips down to his neck, Dean realized that being intimate with this omega was in a way another courting technique. It was a way to show them that they were compatible in that department as well and if the alpha could give the omega an awesome orgasm, the omega might even think he was a worthy mating partner.

Peeling Cas out of his clothes, Dean made it his mission to kiss every inch of his body to show him just how loved he was. He was hard enough to fuck Cas into next week and really show him who's alpha, but this was about seducing Cas with his mouth and touches and…

“De-ean! Stop playing around,” Cas demanded after Dean had bypassed the omega’s dick yet again.

Dean pouted. “But I like playing around with you.”

The glint in Cas’ eyes told him that pushing his buttons might be dangerous. But before he could get ready for Cas’ retaliation, the omega had already flipped Dean over so that he was the one lying on his back and was climbing on top of him.

“What are you…” Dean started when Cas took his dick and positioned it at his hole. “I didn’t even— _Ohmygod_.”

Cas was sinking down, _all the way_ down, in one go, as if he had been made to take Dean’s dick (and he had if the wet glide of his slick was anything to go by). It felt so good that Dean couldn’t help but thrust up into him.

And then the little omega was showing _him_ who was… well, omega, and started riding him good so that all Dean could do was hang on and try to get a thrust in here or there.

But Cas just pushed him down and then proceeded to ride him to orgasm. Just as Dean was shooting his load into the omega (way too early, he should have more stamina than that, dammit), Cas was coming all over Dean’s torso, marking him with his omega sperm.

Then Cas just laid down on top of Dean, apparently not caring that Dean’s chest was coated in his spunk, and snuggled up to him with a content sigh, Dean’s dick still snugly inside of him.

“But… I’m the alpha,” was all Dean could get out.

“And you’re a very manly alpha,” Cas reassured him, kissing his shoulder and then going back to cuddling him.

Huh. Dean should have known what he was in for when the omega had taken the first step and tried to court him. He should probably plan a mating proposal before Cas handled that himself too.

“If it bothers you so much, I’ll let you be on top next time,” Cas mumbled.

Yeah, he would. And Dean would totally get his revenge when he’d have Cas at his mercy, ploughing his tight ass.

But for now, he was content to just lie underneath the omega he loved and had successfully courted. He’d have to thank Benny. First thing in the morning. Right now, he was busy holding his omega and being held in return.

**Author's Note:**

> Another one done. 😊 I hope you liked it.
> 
> If you want to support me, reblogging the link on tumblr would be awesome. **[Here's the link to the tumblr post](https://destielshipper4cas.tumblr.com/post/190763075269/courting-rituals-for-dummies)**.
> 
> In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment even if you're coming in late--I love hearing from you even if it's been days/weeks/months/years since I posted a chapter or a fic


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